Hartley

HartleyBeautifully preserved historic township on the western edge of
the Blue Mountains
One of the most pleasant day trips from Sydney is the journey to
the historic villages of Hartley and Little Hartley.

The traveller, having wound through the many towns in the Blue
Mountains, drops down from Mount Victoria onto the western slopes
of the Blue Mountains. There are still remnants of William Cox's
original road here. The famous Pass of Victoria, with its stone
bridge built by convicts in 1832, remains a remarkable monument to
the engineering talents of our early road builders - and,
incidentally, a narrow idiosyncracy in a road which over the years
has been widened to cater for the ever-increasing traffic across
the mountains.

Hartley, at the base of the hill, was a town designated by early
settlers and the government as a future regional centre.
Unfortunately, particularly for the residents of Hartley, it was
by-passed by the railway and, over a period, fell into disuse.
Today we are left with a remarkable remnant of a town largely
unchanged since the mid-nineteenth century. It is no more than a
couple of dozen buildings but all have been beautifully
preserved.

Hartley is located 133 kilometres from Sydney and 700 metres
above sea level. It was established in 1815 as an important
stopping point for travellers who had crossed Victoria Pass.
Governor Macquarie, who visited the valley in 1815, named it the
Vale of Clwyd because it reminded him of a vale in North Wales.

By the 1830s there was a need for a police station and court
house between Penrith and Bathurst. Hartley was chosen and by 1837
both the Court House and the police barracks had been built. By
1840 a town, with sixteen streets laid out in a grid system, had
been surveyed. Most of this town was never completed.

By 1846 there were 62 residents and 12 houses. By 1856, as a
result of the gold rushes, the town had doubled in size. It was one
of the major stopping points on the route from Sydney to the Turon
goldfields and as a result it had butchers, blacksmiths, and hotels
to serve the weary diggers and bullock drivers.

Kerosene shale was discovered in the area in the 1860s. This
enabled the production, within Australia,of paraffin oil and
kerosene, which was quite a boon as most families, in those
pre-electricity days, were reliant upon lighting from the cooking
fire or, at best, candles. The discovery brought miners and their
families and there were soon over 2000 people living in the area
with shops, schools, farms and orchards in the area.

The future of the town came to an abrupt end in 1869 when the
railway line across the mountains was routed through Lithgow. The
town¹s importance declined and by 1887 the functions of the
Court House had been transferred to Lithgow.

Today Hartley is a remnant of past times. It is controlled by
the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service who provide a range of
informative books and brochures on the town.

Things to see:

Hartley Court House
The centrepiece is the Hartley Court House which was designed by
Mortimer Lewis and completed in 1837 for £1476. It contains a
well-preserved Courtroom and a couple of fascinating lockups where
early convicts scratched their names, their sentences and their
crimes into the timber-lined walls.

St Bernard's Church and Presbytery
Over the road is St Bernard's Presbytery, built in the late 1850s,
which has been well preserved. Once a home for the priests who held
mass at St Bernard's Church (1848), it is now a private
residence.

St Bernard's was built from stone quarried at South Bowenfels
and timber handsawn in nearby pits. The church has a distinctive
French influence which, it is believed, was the result of an
enthusiasm for French religious architecture by one of the early
priests. If you look carefully you can see that the stone bricks
have been cut by different stonemasons (they have distinctive
styles) and it is possible to see pit saw marks on the roof
timbers. The sandstone altar was hand-tooled to look like
marble.

The Farmer's Inn
Next to St Bernard's is The Farmer's Inn which dates from the
mid-1840s. Originally built as a house by the Finn family it became
an inn to take advantage of the accommodation requirements of
miners heading for the Turon goldfields. It has changed a number of
times but at core it was built of sandstock bricks and shingles -
both of which can still be seen.

Ivy Cottage
Beyond the Farmer's Inn is Ivy Cottage. It was built in the 1850s
by the Finn family and soon became the Police Magistrate¹s
house. It is claimed that the magistrate, whose major job seemed to
be dealing with drinks, hated the location between the Farmer's Inn
and the Shamrock Inn.

Shamrock Inn
The Shamrock Inn, the last building in the main street, was built
in 1856 and enjoyed enthusiastic patronage from the miners who
passed through Hartley on their way to the goldfields. It is
notable for its large number of chimneys and the prominent sagging
of the roof.

Other Buildings
Return along the main street to the Court House and head towards
the Great Western Highway. Next to the Presbytery is the Post
Office, parts of which date from the mid-1840s. Around the corner,
on the way up the hill to St John's Church, are Old Trahlee (two
semi-detached cottages dating from the 1840s), Bungarribee which
was the private residence of Thomas Finn, and the Church of St John
the Evangelist, completed in 1859 at a cost of £1356 and
believed to be designed by Edmund Blacket, the architect of the
central quadrangle at Sydney University.

The Royal
Over the road (and now a private residence) is The Royal, another
inn which was opened in 1849 and soon became the local booking
office for Cobb and Co. One source around the turn of the century
described The Royal as 'one of the twelve hotels which formerly
existed in Hartley...[it] continued in business for a great number
of years, and, though not possessed of a license at the present
day, is catering successfully for the increasing motor traffic to
and from the Jenolan Caves. Few who seek refreshment within its
hospitable walls are aware of the important place it formerly
occupied in the coaching days, nor of its present day significance
as the remaining relic of Hartley's former greatness.'

It is one of the thirteen historic inns listed on the excellent
History Highway Inns website. Check it out at History Highway Inns
which offers detailed information about the historic inns in the
Blue Mountains.

Meads Farm
Situated on the Great Western Highway, at Little Hartley, Meads
Farm is an historic inn which now offers comfortable self-contained
bed-and-breakfast accommodation in the converted former
stables.

The original building was a four-room structure of sandstock
bricks erected in 1857. However, in the 1860s, kerosene shale was
discovered locally which enabled the production, within
Australia,of paraffin oil and kerosene. This was quite a boon as
most families, in those pre-electricity days, were reliant upon
lighting from the cooking fire or, at best, candles.

The discovery brought miners and their families and there were
soon over 2000 people living in the area with shops, schools, farms
and orchards in the area. More to the point, the unpleasant, tiring
and risky work produced thirsty men in search of entertainment at
the end of the working week. This situation prompted John Martin to
convert Meads Farm into the Kerosene Hotel in 1866.

It is one of the thirteen historic inns listed on the excellent
History Highway Inns website. Check it out at History Highway Inns
which offers detailed information about the historic inns in the
Blue Mountains.

Those interested in accommodation should ring (02) 6355
2143.

The Comet Inn
Another hotel which sprang up to meet the needs of the
newly-arrived shale miners was The Comet Inn, erected in 1879 by
Thomas Thompson and named after a brand of kerosene. It remained an
inn until 1913, at which time kerosene production was in
decline.

Today it offers bed-and-breakfast accommodation, a restaurant
and function facilities situated on acres of gardens, an orchard
and a walking track situated opposite the old shale workings.
Located on Hartley Vale Road, at Hartley Vale, it can be contacted
on (02) 6355 2247.

It is one of the thirteen historic inns listed on the excellent
History Highway Inns website. Check it out at History Highway Inns
which offers detailed information about the historic inns in the
Blue Mountains.

Exploring Hartley and Beyond
It is possible to inspect all of Hartley's historic buildings in a
relatively short time because only the Court House is open for
inspection and most of the buildings are private residences which
can only be viewed from the footpath or roadway. It is therefore
quite reasonable to drive on to the Jenolan Caves (it is worth
remembering that people who stayed at the Carrington in Katoomba in
the 1880s used to make a three day trek by horseback to see the
caves) which is 31 kilometres further on, on a good sealed
road.

Galleries
Handcrafted metal works, such as candelabra, furniture and mirrors
are for sale at the Talisman Gallery, located at 2360 Great Western
Highway, Little Hartley, tel: (02) 6355 2056. At 2329 Great Western
Highway is the Harp of Erin Gallery which sells fine arts such as
paintings, jewellery, etched glass, prints, ceramics, crafts and
art cards in the old Harp of Erin Inn, which dates from around the
1830s. At the corner of the highway and Carroll Drive is the
Artists Shed Gallery which sells traditional and modern-style
paintings and sculpture. It is open most days, tel: (02) 6355 2377.
Next door is Aldgate Gallery.